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A Synthesis: Technology and How It Effects to The Society

When individuals talk about technology, they would say it is an aspect the currently

controls the ways of life in the world through various day to day activities. Consequently,

technology can be considered to be a two-sided coin in which when efficiently used, it comes with

a lot of good while, on the other hand, if misused that the results will always be devastating to the

welfare of humans. The judgment of Thamus, an essay by Neil Postman, reveals the aspect of the

history of technology and culture with its impact an influence on the perspective of the society

towards the existence of natural order. In his essay, Postman asserts that the given technology

transforms or somewhat changes society's culture in an extensively meaningful manner.

Neil further warns the society of making un rational conclusions that technology brings

about changes that infinitely excellent or bad. Backing up Postman is snaps to riches: the rise of

snapchat celebrities by Hellen Huet, which investigates the inventions of technology and how they

affect the people who not only create it but use it and live in places full of it. In the essay, Huet

asserts that despite discoveries and coming up with new technological ideas is how one uses it in

society and how it affects the society that matters. For instance, her essay talks about the invention

and use of snapchat and how it affects society and those who use it in both affirmative and either

way.
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Additionally, gin television and social surplus an essay by Clay Shirky give an insight into

the time that individuals take in watching television with its aspect of increased cognitive surplus.

Shirky encourages individuals to spend less time watching tv so that they can get enough time to

engage themselves in productive activities, which is an essential part of life in society.

Consequently, all three given essayists touch on aspects concerning technology. The three

essayists are significantly alarmed and fear that the society is often ignorant of the technology

effects on the society given out through their hopeful mode of expression.

Postman strongly focuses on the adverse effects that arise from the implementation of

technology, where he aspires that by focusing on the negative impact, he might finally bring it to

light and hence mange in creating awareness to the society (Postman, 151-154). His primary mode

of thought through Thamus is that the society can learn from the perspective that whenever a given

technology is invented and implemented, then it does its work as it was supposed to carry out.

Therefore, society needs to what the expectations of the new technology involved effectively.

Ultimately, to understand the given needs of technology, Postman urges society to stay cautious

when introducing new technology to culture (Postman, 157-159).

According to Postman, this aspect means that without being cautious, technology will

always lead people blindly to inevitable consequences or instead results, which in turn poses as

one of his fears. Ellen's Heut further justifies Postman's concern through her focus on the bullish

snapchat aspect of technology that affects the society without their knowledge. Heute states Darren

Latchman, the core founder and executive of one of the majors snapchat platform, who claims that

they are incredibly bullish on snapchat as a new medium of technology (Huet, 70-71). Ultimately,

the given aspect is also supported by the ideas that society responds to snapchat technology with

the content that is uniquely fit to the application.

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According to Huet, society, mostly youths, will always be pulled Snapchat without

considering the effect that it brings to them (Huet, 72-73). The postman would have significantly

marveled at Huet's claims in which supports his idea of how technology leads and controls the

people who invented it blindly. The use and control of snapchat by various big companies only in

pulling the crowds and moving masses towards supporting their brand only further shows

Postman's fear of how technology is used to exploit the unaware individuals in the society.

Consequently, these company’s exploit the masses due to their lack of knowledge for the

companies own benefits. Huet further reveals how the various social platforms after noticing that

their platforms only las for a while they even find for more ways to improve them to effectively

reach the youth who are the most group in the society (Huet, 75-77). This aspect of Postman would

have been that the companies improve their technology to keep on exploiting society due to their

lack of knowledge. Moreover, many of the youth will be fascinated by the few improvements to

technology and immediately fall for them without significantly understanding the given form of

exploitation.

However, Huet's aspiration is that society will, at one particular point, manage to take

charge of the given technology in making fruitful decisions. She also sees the positive side of the

technology in its capability of providing employment opportunities to youths such as Shaun

McBride as an internet celebrity, among other unmentioned many celebrities (Huet, 75-78). The

given factor brings a differing aspect from Postman, who is not as hopeful as Huet in the positive

effects of technology on society.

Ultimately, taking a look at Shirky’s argument on the aspect of television watching and its

impact on the individuals further supports Postman's fear of the effects of technology on society

(Shirky, 167-169). Shirky asserts that most people often spent most of their free time watching
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television. Ultimately, Shirky also adds that individuals have been doing this for decades without

necessarily thinking of the consequences or long-term effects that it brings to society (Shirky, 170-

171). As for Shirky himself the fact that he mainly engaged in watching television and afterward

alternating by making blog posts and editing of Wikipedia documents further justifies that he did

nothing more productive in the end, an aspect the strengthens Postman's idea that technology does

more of evil than good to the society.

Shirky himself admits through regret that there could be something more productive he

could have done instead of watching television (Shirky, 171-173). This aspect further shows that

he feared that society was blind to the adverse effect of watching television, which was the wastage

of a significant aspect of life, and that is time. Therefore, Shirky's fear openly relates to Postman’s

fear of the adverse effects that technology brings to the. None the less, similarly to Huet, Shirky is

more hopeful that the society is now aware of the impact; and that it is doing necessary to deal

with the issue, unlike Postman, who believes that society will always stay blind moving in the

direction that technology takes them.

The three essayists would agree that the available technology companies are so vast than

the society can understand, which turns out to be scarier than anyone can ever imagine. Ultimately,

they would also agree that society often blindly show love to these companies, which in turn leads

to their exploitation due to ignorance. A further, on Shirky's argument and insight on the factor of

physics and participation, it makes one conclude that individuals can not always predict the result

that arises from technology as there is a presence of so much complexity within the aspect. What

does this aspect mean, according to Shirk? The postman would have commented to the statement

by saying that Shirky brings out the aspect that the society is illiterate due to the failure of educating
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themselves with various aspects of technology that would have instead created awareness (Shirky,

171-173).

In conclusion, technology has significantly grown in society that individuals have failed to

notice the effects that technology brings to society. Moreover, individuals have taken and consider

technology as the most crucial aspect of survival in society. Additionally, to all individuals in

society, technology is the best thing that has ever been invented. In contrast, they fail to understand

that where good exists, there is always a wrong side near. Individuals spent a lot of time snapchat

or using social platforms and watching programs on television. Time passes without their

knowledge, and eventually, without noticing, so much time has passed without making the good

out of it for their benefits. Ultimately, as seen in the text Postman, Huet and Shirky have a sense

of fear understanding that most individuals in the society are blind on how technology impacts

them, adding to the fact they are insufficiently educated on the given aspect.
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Work cited

Postman, Neil. "The Judgment of Thamus." Reading Pop Culture, edited by Jeff Osbourne,

Bedford/St. Martin, 2016, pp. 151-166.

Shirky, Clay. “Gin, Television, and Social Surplus.” Reading Pop Culture, edited by Jeff

Osbourne, Bedford/St. Martin, 2016, pp. 167-173.

Huet Ellen. “Snaps to Riches: The Rise of Snapchat Celebrities” Reading Pop Culture, edited by

Jeff Osbourne, Bedford/St. Martin, 2016, pp. 70-79